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R42 (New York City Subway car) - RollOverTheFloor
The R42 is a New York City Subway car model built between 1969 and 1970 by the St. Louis Car Company in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the B Division (IND/BMT). It was the last 60-foot (18.29 m) B Division car built for the New York City Subway until the R143 in 2001, and the last car model class to be built in married pairs. Description The R42s are numbered 4550–4949. They were the first fleet of New York City Subway cars to be fully equipped with Stone Safety 10 ton air conditioning systems/units. and became standard equipment on all future subway cars purchased from this point onward. As a result of the air conditioning, the standee poles were arranged in an alternating pattern rather than the straight-line pattern seen in the R40s, which lacked air conditioning systems/units until their overhauls. The R42s were also the first cars to use solid state converters in place of the motor-generators as standard equipment, and were also the last cars to be equipped with the tried-and-true, and extremely reliable WABCO RT-2 or SMEE braking system temporarily, until returning in 1983 with the R62s for the IRT division, after disastrous results with the newer WABCO RT-5 or P-Wire braking systems used on their R44s and R46s cars of the 1970s. The R42s were built with the non-sloping design that is used on all other subway cars in the Transit Authority's attempt to modified the safety hazards and concerns previously found on the R40 model, since the R42s are basically a modified, straight-ended version of the said R40 fleet. History On May 9, 1969, cars 4550-4559 entered service on the BMT Sea Beach Line (N''' train). By January 5, 1970, all cars were in service. In 1973, cars 4764-4765 were sent to Garrett AiResearch's facilities in Los Angeles, California to test out Flywheel Energy Storage System equipment. Car 4764 received energy conservation machinery with batteries and amber-type digital readouts indicating the amount of energy used by the equipment, while 4765 remained untouched. These cars were later tested at the UMTA, and the USDOT Testing Facilities in Pueblo, Colorado for evaluation, and were returned to the MTA in 1976 for in-service testing on all BMT/IND Lines to check the effectiveness of the technology. In 1977, pantograph gates, salvaged from retired R1 through R9 cars, were modified and installed on the front ends of the R42s. Baloney coiled spring type inter car safety barriers were also installed on the blind ends of the married pairs. '''Retirement 'Initial retirements' The R160s replaced the vast majority of the R42s in the late 2000s. They were gradually phased out starting in the summer of 2008 until January 2010, when it was decided to retire all NYCT R44s in place of the remaining R42s instead. The retired R42s were first stripped of various parts to keep the remaining fleet alive, just before being sunk as artificial reefs. Several retired R42 cars were saved for various purposes throughout the New York City Subway system, including: *'4554-4555' - donated to Transit Tech High School's Railcar Lab on April 14, 2009, replacing R30 car 8337, which was reefed a few months later. *'4572-4573' - preserved, repainted, and set aside for the New York Transit Museum. This set was used in the famous chase scene in the film, The French Connection. The cars have been used on several recent NYTM fan trips, specifically as a part of the Train of Many Metals (TOMM). *'4650-4651' - being used as NYPD training cars at Floyd Bennett Field. *'4664-4665' - preserved by the Railway Preservation Corp. The pair is stored at Coney Island Yard. *'4760-4761' - being used as derailment re-railing training cars at the Coney Island Complex. 'Remaining fleet' The fifty cars kept in revenue service—'4788-4817' and 4820-4839—are assigned to the East New York Yard in Brooklyn, operating on the J and Z'''. They were temporarily taken out of service in late October 2012 and have underwent their SMS (Scheduled Maintenance System) cycle at the Coney Island Overhaul Shop until May 31, 2013, when they return to service. The other ten cars, numbered '''4604-4613, were taken out of revenue service in December 2009. They are now used for work service; six of these cars are based from the 36th-38th Street Yard, while the other four are based from the 207th Street Yard. All cars handle such tasks as providing traction for B Division rail adhesion cars and refuse trains. At 50 years old, the R42s are the second oldest subway cars in service, behind the R32s built in 1964-1965. The remainder of the R42s are expected to be replaced by the R211 order starting in 2020. Gallery File:Manhtn bound J train of R42s arriving at Bway Jct.jpg File:R42 J train terminating at Broad St.jpg File:Queens-bound R42 J train at Marcy Av.jpg File:R42 Z train at Bway Jct.jpg R42 Z at Bway Jct from eastern end.jpg R42 exterior side signage.jpg File:R42 interior at Hewes St on the J.jpg View of an R42 interior from the outside.jpg